There’s a lot going on in the country and our world: inflation, open borders, rampant crime, challenges in educating our children, the breakdown of the family unit, culture wars, increasing mental illness and suicide, addictions in the form of alcohol, drugs, food, gambling and social media, the national deficit, government corruption, the upcoming election and divisive politics, overboard obsessions with climate change, China’s relentless pursuit of overtaking the United States as a world power, Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, and more. There’s much to write about, and it’s a sad list.
But today is Easter Sunday. Nothing is bigger or better than the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Because of Him, we can bear everything else. Especially today, it’s a time to recognize that the Word triumphs over every other word. Block out the noise and allow Him to speak to you.
Jesus is risen. Hallelujah.
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
Peter proceeded to speak and said: “You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”
The Word of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians.
Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.
The Word of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So, she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So, Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
The Gospel of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Moving the Conversation Along 